It never ceases to amaze me what can be found in the KYGMC collections. Thanks to wonderful donors, we actually had stakes, a Gunter’s Chain, a surveyor’s tripod and a theodolite! For those of you, like me, who didn’t know what a theodolite is — it is a transit used by surveyors which provided a means of measuring angles over short distances. We take for granted that every place these days has an address. Every place has a name and every place is important to someone, but there was a time when that wasn’t the case.
Mapping and surveying were essential to the economic growth of American colonies and later to our new nation. It gave physical order in our new world and was integral in land development. As settlers pushed inland, the need for accurate surveys and maps grew. Its importance to a liberal arts education in the 1700’s was reflected in the curriculum of early colleges where surveying, navigation, globe making and ancient and modern geography were taught.
In the colonies, surveying was very primitive compared to European surveying. The surveying system is referred to as “Metes and Bounds.” (A mete is a boundary or stone.) You would have taken a 66 foot or 100-foot long chain, started at a beginning point, which you would have determined, put a stake down, put the beginning of the chain on the stake and walked out the 66 foot, taken another stake, put the chain on it and measured on. You would have used a compass and looked through a magnifying glass or small telescopes attached to the compass to get bearings….not very scientific! In Europe, at the same time, they were using very, very accurate surveying. The Mason Dixon Line surveyed in 1768 measuring the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was done by surveyors brought in from England using very accurate surveying. They were mathematicians; they used star charts, celestial tables and figured out pinpoints on the earth. Philander Chase, an editor of the Washington Papers at the University of Virginia writes that frontier surveyors “could earn an annual cash income that was exceeded only by the colony’s finest trial lawyers.”
George Washington learned the art of surveying from his brother Lawrence and from established regional surveyors. One historical document says 12 years, another says 16, but we do know he started barely in his teens. He ran lines for farms near his home and at 17, in 1749, he was appointed the Surveyor General of Virginia. “Between 1747 and 1799, Washington would survey over 200 tracts of land. Like many surveyors of the day, he held substantial amounts of real estate including more than 65,000 acres in 37 different locations.” In 1788, George Washington did a survey of 5,000 acres of land in what is now Grayson County, Kentucky. He saw a copy of Filson’s map and down in that area around the Rough River, he saw a note that read “abundant iron ore”. He purchased the land from Henry Lee. The deed said he purchased it for 600 pounds, but Kentucky Historical Society Archivist, Sara Elliot, says in reality, he traded a horse for it. It turns out Washington did his own drawing of the property based on previous surveys and land deeds, but Sara points out that he was never here and it is amazing the survey KHS has is so detailed as it is without Washington ever actually seeing the land.
On exhibit now in the KYGMC Changing Gallery, you will see mapping progress from the mid-18th century through the mid-19th century. You will see examples of the early maps made by frontier surveyors. Though few accurate western details can be seen in some early maps, the Bowen and Kitchen maps of the 1780’s and two of the Laurie and Whittle maps of the first half of the 1790’s that we have on display show major geographical elements. Details such as the Great Lakes and the Ohio River and some of its tributaries “are readily discernible…even if the shapes or outlines are not perfectly true.” Our Lewis Evans’ map of the Middle British Colonies, printed by Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia in 1755, shows much greater detail. The French soldier, explorer, and spy, Georges Henri Victor Collot came right through Maysville to sketch and map the first road west of the Appalachians, Road from Limestone to Frankfort. This map, that was supposed to be used by the French military, is on display with great detail. You will even see Collot’s map in Steve White’s painting featured along with other magnificent paintings of history throughout the exhibit. Other maps in the exhibit show a later and more detailed Kentucky as well.
Today, Robotic Total Stations set at reference points and a reference back point do a lot of the work done by man so long ago. Equipment can give distance up to ½ mile away and turn angles with very tight accuracy information to come up with placement of everything in its exact location. Satellites and hi-tech equipment can survey the world, country, state and city to a specific point relative to everything else.
If you have a love of history or have a love of maps, whether it is to view their meticulous detail or the romantic beauty of their realization of dreams, you will want to visit the “cARTography” exhibit that shows the evolution of maps and how they reflect change, not just in the art of surveying, but in life.
Readers may email questions to [email protected] @Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, Maysville, KY
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